Under the Stars
by XMidnightXWerewolfX
Summary: In the middle of the night, our hero visits one very special girl near to his heart, and they share a special moment together.


Alfred crept along the gravelly path in front of him, careful not to make any sound as he looked around for any lights turned on, or any people walking down the street. He walked casually, but carefully as well, ready to bolt at a moment's notice, he also had the Pink Panther theme song playing in his head, so that certainly had an impact on the fact he walked. After all, he was on a secret mission of his own assignment, and it was quite an important one.

He had parked some ways away so his car wouldn't give him away, after all, he wasn't welcome here. Well, more accurately he wasn't welcome near the house of the Braginskys, they didn't trust him. Ivan and he had gotten into a few… altercations over the past years, and left quite a few bruises on one another, and sore feelings between both of them assured a wide berth between their respective persons. Though during this night, Alfred wasn't at all worried about Ivan, what was more important, was achieving his goals.

Alfred crept toward the wooden fence and took a breath before vaulting himself over it and rolling over the ground, attempting to land like an action hero, but more accurately landing like a doofus. Though in his mind he looked epic. In Al's mind, the whole ordeal was a secret operation and he was certain to complete his mission, or get chased out of the yard trying. He looked around, noticing a slightly ajar shed door in the backyard and an old swingset out back that looked long out of use, but still good.

Without pausing for a moment longer Alfred moved forward, crouching down in order to become one with the darkness. He moved slow and low, keeping beneath the view of the windows in case someone were to look out into the dark. His eyes scanned the windows before luck would have it, he could peer straight into the room of Ivan's sister.

That's right, the poor do-gooder, heroic, dorky, and somewhat dense young man, had fallen for the sister of his arch-rival. How you ask? Well, it's a bit of a long story.

Alfred, being the hero he proclaimed to be, was always one to help another person in need, even when he was a small child in fifth grade. He had gone around every day, offering help to anyone who needed it, whether they requested it of him or not. One day he happened across a small young girl crying behind the school, knees pulled up to her chest, no one around to care for her, not her brother, not anyone.

The blonde-haired maiden may have gone entirely unnoticed, had Alfred's latest stunt not go a bit awry. He had climbed into an old trash can the school was throwing out-lined with a clean trash bag of course-and rolled himself down the hill. Of course, nobody told him the real they were throwing it out was because the wheel wasn't working correctly. The can collapsed and Alfred went tumbling out and onto the ground, rolling down the hill before landing next to the young damsel in distress.

She hadn't noticed him at first, but Alfred noticed her. He had never been able to stand someone crying and he immediately went into his heroic state of mind, propping his somewhat pained body up against the wall and looking over to her. He spoke loudly of course, one might even say he was being obnoxious about it, but he didn't even notice, it was just natural for him to speak like that.

Alfred had asked her what was wrong and why she was crying. At first attempted to deny her tears, claiming that crying would only bother others, but Alfred wasn't about to let her go that easily. Then within minutes he was listening to how lonely she was, and how no one seemed to care for her no matter what kind things she did. Then with that, the case was sealed and Alfred had become her very first friend without a second thought.

Of course the two had remained friends for some time before Ivan and Alfred's clashing against one another a few years ago, which only resulted in a forced crack in their friendship. Though that never stopped Alfred, even now in his Junior year he didn't stop coming to visit her, hanging out with her during and after school, or any time the two might meet up. They usually didn't run into problems, though the casual hiding together in a closet wasn't unheard of between them.

Alfred only took a few steps further before knocking on her window, a grin on his face as he saw her inside, sitting at her desk and writing in her diary. She really was gorgeous, and he'd stated more than once she was obviously the most beautiful out of Ivan's sisters, and definitely one of the most gorgeous girls he'd seen. He enjoyed embarrassing her like that, preaching the fact aloud in public; he wasn't necessarily subtle about many things.

When she heard the knock Alfred stood up, peering inside and giving her that winning smile of his with his eyes practically gleaming in joy. Then in order to clarify, as if his face wasn't proof enough, he whispered out to her "Katyusha! It's me!" and then he silenced himself, no more speaking than needed, especially from his naturally loud mouth.

The girl at her desk immediately turned around, clutching her chest in order to keep her beating heart in her chest, she had thought he was a robber! She gave a slight huff before smiling at the sight of those beautiful eyes and without a moment's hesitation she retrieved her shoes, slipping them on and heading over to the window. As she opened it up, Alfred held out his arms for her to help herself out.

Once she was down and outside, with her window now closed, Alfred made no hesitation to pull her into a big hug, grinning widely as he spun her around. She didn't even attempt to hide her urge to giggle and laugh, but seeing where they were, a very small giggle sufficed for now. Sure, he'd met her like this hundreds of times before, but each time it only got better! He sat her down quickly, taking her hand and running off the premises, making his way to the fence once more. He picked her up, hoisting her over the wooden pickets before letting her go as gently as possible to fall on the other side.

Katyusha landed with a light thud before Alfred lept over, making a better landing than before, though he quickly ruined it as he stepped forward, nearly tripping on a loose block on the sidewalk. Katyusha had to reach out, trying not to giggle once more at his clumsiness as she caught him, hoisting him back to his feet. They nodded to one another before taking one another's hands and walking down the sidewalk, letting out sweet breaths of relief.

Once they had moved a good distance from the house Alfred smiled, pulling Katyusha into a hug and laughing "It's great to see you! I got Arthur's car just down the street, he let me borrow it for this!" And he pulled back, still holding her in his arms as he looked down at those beautiful eyes of hers…. Some people liked to say that her younger sister, Natalia was the pretty sister, and he responded by throwing pictures of Katyusha at them and saying they're wrong…. no, seriously, that happened.

Katyusha giggled out loud this time, sighing and squeezing her dorky hero before pulling back, then looking up with concern "Wait… Alfred, you don't have your license!" she said with a pout, crossing her arms over her chest. She could be rather overprotective of him at times, and despite Alfred being a rather… skilled driver one might say, she didn't exactly agree with him driving without a license and possibly getting into trouble.

Alfred grinned, pulling a small slip of paper out of his pocket, it wasn't a license, but it did indeed spell out 'Learner's Permit'. "I've got this! I'm allowed to drive as long as there's another driver in the car with me! And didn't you get your license last month~?" he grinned, slipping the piece of paper back into his pocket without a second thought and leaning against a nearby light post, which creaked somewhat under his weight.

Katyusha pouted, pursing her lips as she looked up at Alfred, he could be stubborn sometimes, and while yes, she had recently gotten her license, you were supposed to have an _experienced _driver in the car with you, and Katyusha was anything, but. Though she sighed after a few moments and shook her head with a smile and thumping the other's forehead playfully "Come on then cutie, let's just see how good of a driver you are."

With that they both made their way down the street, lacing their fingers between each other once again. He sighed happily, taking in a deep breath as he looked around the night, it was cool, crisp, wonderful actually. Then with Katyusha next to him, it was absolutely perfect, and he wasn't about to let anything ruin it.

Once they rounded the corner Alfred's borrowed car came into view, it was actually rather nice, though it was definitely owned by the transfer Englishman. It was sleek black with silver and inside the car was a tan color with leather seating, and luckily for Alfred it had a normal gear shift. He doubted he'd have been able to start up a stick shift, let alone drive it.

Of course, Alfred walked over to the passenger side, opening the door for Katyusha like a gentleman would. She rolled her eyes, but smiled at the gesture, obviously happy seeing as she pecked his cheek before climbing inside. She buckled herself up of course, taking the time to situate herself in her seat, she wouldn't deny that her… assets caused her some issues like this often, but she rarely complained about them, she didn't really mind them at all. Though it would be nice to not have back pains…

Alfred walked around the car once more and sat in the driver's seat, buckling his seatbelt, turning on the car, and going through all his things. Katyusha watched him and snorted just slightly as she watched him go over all the small details of the car. Then only once he was done he pulled out of the parking space, heading out onto the road and relaxing with a sigh. "I've got a great place for the two of us, you're gonna love it!"

Katyusha looked to him and nodded, sighing as she relaxed back into the seat, turned slightly so she could watch Alfred at this very moment. He truly was rather handsome with that messy, unkempt hair, those lovely blue eyes, that constant smile on his face, and she had seen him shirtless more than once. While she would never admit it, his body was definitely a huge plus for her.

Then on top of that, he was so sweet and kind, most people knew him as the dorky, loud, and somewhat obnoxious linebacker who played nerdy card games and video games in his spare time. She could see that and she loved all of it, but she'd seen more, she'd seen his kind and caring side for years, it was him that had helped her out with all her problems with bullying after all. She could still remember the day he almost appeared out of nowhere, like a godsend to help her.

Alfred snuck glances at Katyusha each time he stopped at a stop sign before quickly turning his eyes back to the road, finding it more than difficult to focus with someone so beautiful in the car with him. Though he managed to focus and started driving away from the neighborhood into the more wooded areas of the town. They passed fewer and fewer houses as they moved along before coming to a clearing with a small dirt road going down the middle

Alfred drove down the path slowly before pulling over and sighing, he still wasn't entirely cool with driving- He took the keys out of the ignition, unbuckling his seatbelt quickly and moving over to the other side of the car. He opened up the door and offered a hand to Katyusha, which she readily took before standing up out of the car. Alfred would probably need to clean the footprints later, but he climbed up onto the hood of the car, leaning back on the windshield and gesturing for the other to come with him.

Katyusha smiled at Alfred once he climbed up on the car, doing the same and laying her head on his chest, looking down at him with a smile on her face, and her arms wrapped tightly around the boy who'd been there for her since day one. She sighed, snuggling close and leaning into him, eyes going half-lidded in relaxation.

Alfred sighed, reaching up and slowly stroking his hands through her hair and down her back, rubbing her lower back gently. He knew about her back pains, and he had given her many back massages to help her out, in back rooms at school, on a bench at parks, and anywhere else he noticed she might need it. He thought about asking Berwald next time he saw him at school for lessons in how to give a real massage, but the guy was kinda off-putting…

He looked back down at Katyusha, a grin over his face as something came to mind and he spoke gently to her "Hey, you know what I just thought of?" he asked, leaning down and nuzzling her gently before pulling away to look her in the eyes once more. She really was beautiful, no matter who disagreed with him, she was the most gorgeous woman he'd ever seen in his life and no one was going to change his mind about that.

Katyusha heard him speak and thought for a moment, playfully tapping her lips. "Hmmm… I dunno, what is it Al~?" she asked, resisting the urge to let out a sigh of relief at the gentle backrub she was recieving, it was like heaven… Of course, with her guardian angel there, perhaps it really was heaven, and they'd driven into the clouds when she'd closed her eyes to blink. Maybe that's how everything always turned out so perfect… because nothing could go wrong.

Alfred grinned, looking up to the sky as he spoke, attempting to look all mysterious and stuff "I'm under two sets of stars tonight… the ones in the sky… and the ones in your eyes" he grinned at his achievement, waiting to see her reaction to his corny pickup line. Then again, it was a step up from 'I'm your superhero!' which was the usual of course.

Katyusha turned a dark red at first, hiding her face for a moment as she let out an adorable little whine, it was halfway between denial and a squeal of glee. Though once she pulled her face out it was less red and she looked up at her, suddenly looking suspicious as she smiled, poking his cheek "Oh, did my hero really come up with that all by himself~? I don't think it's cheesy enough for him~" and she let out a laugh, her eyes squeezing from all the smiling she was doing.

Alfred laughed out a bit nervously, scratching the back of his head as he was caught in his minor case of plagiarism. "Well… not really, Francis told me to say it, but it's true…" he said, hoping she would buy it. After all, he really did believe that, he just wasn't… what's the word… sappy, that's it! Thought Alfred happily accepted such sappy comments if it meant he could make Katyusha feel special.

Katyusha smiled and laughed, leaning up and pecking his lips gently and looking up at him "Hmmm~ I suppose I can forgive you, after all, it really was so sweet~" She sighed softly and leaned in, snuggling close to him "Besides… you're the only star I need…" and she smiled softly, nuzzling her hero closely.

Alfred smiled, stroking his hands through her hair and sighing, kissing the top of her head gently and speaking quickly. "Hm, that sounds good, the two of us here, sitting with our favorite stars~ Under the stars~" he closed his eyes, enjoying his moment with Katyusha… This perfect moment between them.


End file.
